Bigfoot on the Prowl in Fort Hall, Idaho

An Idaho State University biology professor is focusing his Bigfoot efforts in the Pocatello, Idaho area following persistent reports of the presence of Bigfoot and perhaps a whole tribe of similar hominids in the area.

For the past ten years, most of the sightings have occurred around Fort Hall, Idaho (population 900) and Chubbuck, Idaho (population 7,700), two towns located just north of Pocatello. For the past two years, Prof. Jeff Meldrum has been on a Bigfoot hunt, tracking footprints and looking for signs of the legendary hairy ape.

'My work is to shift the emphasis from tabloid stories to scientific inquiry,' Meldrum says. 'My data is in the form of footprints.'

Although Meldrum says his obsession began in fifth grade after viewing a documentary film on Bigfoot, he wasn't a believer until he saw fresh tracks for himself outside of Walla Walla, Wash. a few years ago.

Meldrum describes about 35 tracks on a muddy stretch beside a road. Although he was skeptical, he says the hair on the back of his neck stood up. From then on, he was hooked.

Pictures of apes cover the walls of Meldrum's office and casts of huge footprints line his lab tables. Some feet measure 16 to 17 inches long and show what Meldrum terms anatomical features.

Recent Bigfoot sightings north of Pocatello include the following:

A recent report in Fort Hall is still under investigation. Some parties say they saw footprints, and some blame the sighting in stray cattle.

A Chubbuck woman reported several years ago she saw a big, hulking hairy ape. Later she saw three sets of 16 to 17-inch-long footprints in the snow, and her juniper tree was stripped of berries up to 10 feet (3 meters) off the ground.

Eight or nine years ago, south of the Portneuf Gap, a rancher had a disturbance in his outbuildings and found fresh Sasquatch-sized footprints.

Several sightings over the past ten years have been reported in the river bottoms near Mount Putnam.

Mountainous terrain and thick tree canopies provide a perfect cover for what he describes as fairly solitary animal small in numbers.

'A lot of people have this misconception that it's this lone wretched animal wandering the face of the earth,' he says. 'We have examples of multiple animals--males, females and young.'